Dismal Angel Episode 19: The Master Plan
by AngelExposed
Summary: Remy and Rogue reunite on Muir Island, and Remy has plans to help them uncover how the break-ins at the Research Centre are occuring. Meanwhile, Rogue is still keeping her secrets. (Finished - R&R)
1. Chapter 1: Reunion

Chapter 1: Reunion

             Remy LeBeau stood at the precipice, looking down at the ocean, the waves crashed monstrously against the large black rocks.  The wind swept his long brown hair away from his face, and the light rain sprayed his cold flesh.  He looked across the landscape before him. 

             He sighed deeply, his thoughts playing around in his mind, a swirling chaos of hate and love, anger and pain.  There was something that wasn't quite right lately in his life.  

             Namely, Rogue, the young woman he loved.

             He'd been on the island for several weeks, working hard at helping pinpoint areas with low security, there'd been a number of break-ins, chemicals and equipment stolen – it was his job to make sure it didn't happen again.  He was determined it wouldn't.

             Remy had known that long distance romances were the worst kind, that it was easy to quickly lose interest in someone when separated for them for a period of time, he'd just always thought that he'd be the first one to lose interest – not Rogue. 

             He'd been trying to make it work despite he was in Scotland and she was in America, he'd called, he'd email, he'd written letters, but her response was very vague, and then last week, she'd more or less stopped making effort altogether. 

             That had been his first clue that something wasn't quite right.  When he'd called her and asked her if she'd requested taking time away from the institute to come visit him, she'd said she'd 'forgot to ask'.  She'd always claimed before that he was the most important part of her life, and if that was so, how could she simply just forget to ask to be with him?  It seemed unlike her. 

             Even the last time he'd spoken with her she had seemed distracted, and the end of that conversation had resulted in Remy hanging up the phone on her.  He supposed he'd overreacted a little, it wasn't like him to do something so dramatic.  But something in her voice that day – something suggested that she was hiding something.  Usually it was himself who'd be hiding things, not her.  She'd always been particularly honest with him.  

             He couldn't understand what had changed.

             And it had yesterday since she he'd hung up, she had not emailed or called, and he was beginning to wonder if this time he'd screwed up and wrecked any chance of reconciliation.  

             Remy wanted to call her right then, but told himself sternly that he had to wait, it was her who needed to make the next move, if she loved him, she would make the effort, and if not…it might be time to move on.

             The thought of moving on from her broke his heart, but if it came to that, he knew he'd be able to do it, despite being devastated.  

             Dwelling on the thoughts of that, he tossed away his cigarette, he glanced at his watch, realising he'd been on a cigarette break generally longer than he was meant to be.  He gave a deep sigh, and turned to head back to the research centre, he was not prepared for who he saw standing a few feet away.

             It was Rogue.

             Her hair was stirring in the wind, she was wearing a long black cardigan that tied up at the front, coming down past her knees, hiding the rips in the black jeans she always wore.  

             "Chere…" he let out a breath, her beauty always caught him off guard, there was always something almost unearthly about her that made him weak inside.  And every time he looked at her, he would feel almost obligated to drink in her presence with his eyes.

             Rogue gave a weak smile, she was holding a large bag with both hands in front of her, it was hanging almost to the ground, dangling by the straps from her gloved fingers.  She looked tired, as if she hadn't slept.  "I thought I'd surprise you…" 

             He moved over slowly, inside debating if he should be happy or not, or if he should quickly query her about her behaviour over the last week of their relationship and why she'd been so distracted.  

             He didn't have a proper time to respond really, because before he'd known it, Rogue had dropped her bag and rushed to him, throwing herself into his arms in an almost desperate way, her arms thrown over his shoulders, she jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around him in an attempt to keep holding onto him even tighter.

             Remy was slightly amused, "you missed me?"

             "You have no idea," she sighed, holding on tightly, her head against his shoulder.

             He ran his fingers along her spine, "Yeah, I missed you too," his voice sounded unenthusiastic.  Rogue seemed to pick up on it, and she let go of him.

             "You're still mad?" she asked.

             "A little."

             "Remy, I'm so sorry, I was just tired, there was a lot going on at the mansion, the punishment…the stress of things…" she tried to explain.

             Remy sighed, "I really thought you were about to ditch me."

             "As if I'd ditch you," Rogue smiled a little, but then it faded, "I was just being stupid…I'm sorry…" she reached up with her gloved hand, moving his hair away from his face tenderly, letting her fingers gently brush against his cheekbone.

             Even at her touch, the cold leather of her gloves slightly jarring him, made him feel more alive than he had in a long time.   He smiled a little, and moved over, wrapping his arms around her lithe body, and held onto her tenderly, "I'm sorry too, I guess I over reacted just a little," he let go of her and picked her bag up from the ground, "c'mon, we should go inside, its too cold out here," he stated.

             Rogue put her arm around his waist and walked with him, letting his arm slide comfortably around her shoulders.  

             "So…how'd you get here?" he queried.

             "The blackbird, Wolverine dropped me off," Rogue said.

             "Dropped you off?" Remy looked at her, "You mean you're not chaperoned?"

             "Not this time," Rogue stated, "Remy, I'm nearly 17, I don't need chaperoning," she pointed out.

             Remy smirked, "I guess not.  Not that it makes much difference here, you're gonna find yourself bein' chaperoned anyway," he stated, "Sean Cassidy…jesus, the man checks up on me every two hours, its' frightening."

             "How do you deal with that?"

             "I have to 'be good', as according to Professor Xavier's instructions," Remy sighed, "Fortunately Sean and Moira left for the week, they went to Edinburgh, for a series of parliamentary hearings regarding Mutants or something.  I wasn't paying attention when they told me," He smirked, "So their absence is why I'm getting away with taking thirty minute cigarette breaks," he chuckled.

             Rogue looked at him, "cigarette breaks, do they have you on schedule or something here?"

             "I'll tell you when we get upstairs."

             Remy led Rogue into the large foyer of the research centre, and up a staircase to a dormitory area, the same room she'd stayed in on her previous visit was unoccupied, he swung the door open, "I suppose you'll be staying here," he shrugged, "if Moira or Sean was here, they would put you here anyway," he gestured, "My room is opposite," he added.

             Rogue stepped in, watching Remy place her bag on the bed.  "So…Professor Xavier told me what you're up to over here," she admitted, she closed the door.

             "He did?" Remy grimaced.

             "Why didn't you just tell me in the first place…?" Rogue asked.

             "Professor Xavier's orders," Remy shrugged, "Besides…it was too soon after…y'know…" he looked at her, she knew he was referring to the rape.  "Too soon to have you know…" he explained, "I was scared of…reminding you."

             "I'm over it," Rogue shrugged, "even told the professor," she went to the window, and opened the blinds, glancing outside, the view was breathtaking, a clear view of the beach and the waves rolling in.

             "You've handled it pretty well, y'know," Remy said, "I gotta admit, you're a lot more together than I thought you were," Remy looked down, "so much stronger than I could have imagined…"

             Rogue ran her fingers through her hair and yawned, "So…what's going on?  Have you had any leads on who's stealin' the stuff – or how they're doin' it?"

             Remy sat down on the edge of the bed, "I think this is an inside job," he kept his voice low.  "Right now I'm posing as a research assistant so that I can move freely around the others here, see what they're doing…" he explained, "I haven't had much chance to pinpoint where all the lax security is," he admitted.

             Rogue closed the blinds again, "what makes you think it's an inside job?" 

             Remy scratched the bridge of the nose, "just a hunch."

             "Oh come on, is that the best explanation you can come up with?" Rogue put her hands on her hips.  "Remy, you said in those emails you could use my help on whatever you were working on…I can't help you if I don't know the score."

             "Alright, alright," Remy put his hands up in defence, "I'll tell you – but not now…later…" he stood up, he glanced at his watch, "I was meant to be down there with the other research assistants ages ago," He grumbled, "they're such a pain in the ass."

             "You going to introduce me?"

             "Later…get unpacked, and settled…and get some sleep, I can see you're tired," he walked over to her, he placed both hands on her shoulders, "when you're well rested, and settled a little, then we'll talk about it."

             Rogue looked up at him, "Why can't you just tell me now?"

             "Because I got things to do…and you're tired.  I promise you, we'll discuss everything," He smiled softly, "see you later."

             Remy left the room, and Rogue remained alone.  She sighed,  realising she should have just told him straight away about Jared's advances, as opposed to what she'd told him, claiming she'd just been tired and stressed.  She wondered if she told him, would it cause them more arguments after they had just reconciled again.

             She kicked off her shoes and lay on the bed, closed her eyes and let herself drift into a deep but troubled sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Rendezvous with Remy

Chapter 2: Rendezvous With Remy

             When Rogue's eyes opened, the room was an abyss of darkness, except for a tiny bit of moonlight that showed through the blinds.  She yawned and raised her head from her pillow, wondering how late it was.  She hadn't even thought to bring her travel alarm clock.  

             She pulled herself up and stretched, and something in the corner caught her eye, she gasped and jumped, two red glowing orbs in the blackness of the corner.  She threw herself back up against the wall.

             "Relax, it's only me," it was Remy's voice, he sounded ever so slightly amused, the sound of him shuffling in the darkness became apparent, then the light flicked on, he was sitting on the top of a wooden stool, his feet up on the bed side cabinet, back against the wall.

             "Jesus, you fucking scared the shit out of me," Rogue hissed, she kicked one of her shoes at him.

             Remy laughed a little, "didn't mean to," he smirked, "I was bored and just thought I'd wait out in here until you got up."

             Rogue sighed, "what time is it?"

             "Eleven."

             "At night?" Rogue blinked.

             "Duh," Remy smirked, "doesn't exactly look like it be morning out there, now does it?" 

             Rogue blushed and pursed her lips for a moment, "I guess not."

             "So…wanna take a lil' rendezvous together?"

             Rogue yawned a little, "do I have to?"

             "If you wanna hear what I have to say," Remy remarked.

             Rogue sat down on the floor and began to pull on her shoes, "why can't you just tell me in here?"

             "Even the walls got ears," Remy stood up, he picked up his long leather trenchcoat, which Rogue had just noticed had been on the floor folded neatly.  She watched him pull it on, black leather complimented him, gave him a more dark and mysterious look.  

Rogue got up, "we can take the window," she walked over to the window and pulled the blinds up, then flung the window open.

             "Never were one for takin' the long way, were you?" Remy grinned, he watched her climb out of the window and take to the sky, he climbed out slowly onto the ledge, and Rogue grabbed a hold of him under the shoulders, flying them both to the beach. 

             She headed towards the sound intent on a gentle landing, instead, accidentally losing her balance at the last moment and sending them both tumbling across the sand.  

             "Ooph!" Remy huffed as he landed roughly and rolled across the sand, finally stopping before hitting a large rock.  He watched Rogue tumble past a few feet.  "What is up with your landings?"

             "It's not so easy, okay?" Rogue pulled herself up, staggering a little, she frowned at the sand all over her, and began to dust it off.

             "How can it not be easy?" he asked.

             "It's hard to explain," Rogue explained, "It's not like Jean's telekinesis where she can pick herself up and put herself back down neatly."

             "Then what is it like," he dusted sand off of his front.

             "Its like…making myself as light as a feather and trying to control myself against the currents, its hard to explain," she sighed frustrated a little, "if I lose concentration too soon, I become heavier and I hurtle to the ground rather than soar towards it…god, why am I even trying to explain this?"

             Remy shrugged, "Beats the hell out of me…" he reached his hand out to her, "c'mon, walk with me."  
             Rogue took his hand, and they walked together, "so…you gonna tell me why you think the robberies are an inside job?"

             Remy was silent for a moment, as if thinking of a way to explain it, "whoever is doing it seems to know how to beat being seen on any of the security cameras, without disturbing even the hidden motion detectors, and surpassing every security authorisation panel in the building.   Whoever it is knows their shit," Remy said, "I don't think anyone outside of the staff could possibly get through this kind of security…" he explained, "The only kind of person who should know—"

             "Is a staff member?" Rogue asked.

             "That's right?"

             Rogue nodded, "I guess you have a point, it COULD be an inside job."

             "But now I gotta find a way of settin' a trap to catch them in the act…"

             "Y'know, maybe we should have gone to find Pinocchio, see if he could tell us who the supplier was?" Rogue suggested.

             "Pinocchio can't be traced, the Professor checked.  As long as Pinocchio keeps usin' MutantX, his powers aren't being used, hence, Cerebro ain't gonna pick up his signal."

             "Damn," Rogue muttered.

             "Besides, he's just a dealer.  Dealers usually don't get their supplies directly from a main source," he admitted.

             "How do you know?" Rogue frowned a little.

             "Inside sources."  
             "You don't take drugs do you…or deal them…?" Rogue said suspiciously.

             "No, but I've known people who do," Remy admitted.  "Dealers usually get their supplies from another source.  Main suppliers of drugs usually have several people working for them, sometimes patsies, people that aren't easy to trace back to the original source.  Sometimes a supplier will pass drugs on through 10 people before those drugs will get to a dealer," Remy explained.  

             "So you think Pinocchio would be a dead link?"

             "More or less."

             "But he knew about Muir Island…" Rogue pointed out.

             "Doesn't mean to say he knows who's runnin' the show," Remy pointed out, they stopped walking, and Remy leaned against a rock, "Whoever is doin' this is smarter than your average dealer, that's all I can say, they gotta be someone who has some degree of intelligence to be able to combine the chemicals stolen," he pointed out, "and it's gotta be someone who can easily access the stuff."

             "But the thing is, if it was a staff member, wouldn't they just take the stuff anyway?  Why go to the trouble of breaking in?" Rogue asked.

             Remy glanced over at the water, watching the waves rolling in violently against the rocks, "Because it would be too easy, wouldn't it?" he took his tobacco tin out of his pocket and took out a ready rolled cigarette, he pulled his lighter out, put the cigarette to his mouth, cupped the end and lit it.  

             "I don't understand," Rogue admitted, she sat on a nearby rock.

             "All of the chemicals in this building are measured and accounted for every day," Remy explained, "at the end of each day two research assistants take inventory of everything in the labs," he added.  "If a staff member were to just take it, it would be too easy to suss out who was doing it – just by who'd been workin' in the lab that day," he explained.  "However, gaining the knowledge of the centre in and out, and breaking in and taking the stuff makes it look like it's an outside job rather than an inside job."

             "Sounds like you have it sussed already," Rogue admitted.

             "I don't though," Remy sighed, "thing is…I can't quite figure out who the hell is doing it."

             "Okay, so who do we have for suspects?" Rogue asked.

             "Okay, three full time researchers, Halley Robertson, George Redding and Marlene Royston," he stated, "I found out what I can about them, all three are human, but supporters of mutants as far as I can tell.  Halley and George, they're an item, they live together, have two children, and as far as I can tell no criminal records."

             "What about the other one?"

             "She's a rich bitch," Remy remarked, "her father is a multi-millionaire, owns several properties worth a mint or two, runs four businesses, and invests in seven other companies.  She works here voluntarily.  Her father takes care of all her financial needs," Remy explained, "So if Marlene had a motive for stealing chemicals from the centre, it definitely wouldn't be for money."

             "Who else do we have?"

             "Four research assistants, two of them just got out of college, Janine Rowling and Ray Bullock, both are closet mutants, she has the ability to decipher almost any piece of information, even languages she's never learned, and his mutant power is that he can absorb raw electricity into his body, store it up and use it as a kind of lightning strike laser," he responded, "if they had a motive, it would be for money, they both have huge debts."

             "The other two?"

             "Carmen Murdoch, she's in her fifties, married money, inherited a small fortune, her son apparently died of his mutation years before.  She does research part time.  She seems like a rather sweet old lady…" Remy shrugged, "She'd have a motive if it was to stop others from dying during powerful mutations, I guess," he shrugged.

             "Who does that leave?"

             "Sean Cassidy," Remy remarked, "He's not officially a 'research assistant', but more of Moira's lapdog," he explained, "As far as I can tell Sean used to be in Interpol a long time ago.  One thing I know for sure is that Sean is definitely a mutant…he has a scream that could make your head explode.  I can't figure out a motive for him, he seems proud of what he is, and he definitely doesn't have any money problems…"

             "What about Moira?"

             "She's human, has a nice car, wears designer labels, and I snuck into her room one night – even though I shouldn't – and investigated.  She definitely doesn't have anything suspicious we could pinpoint.  No debts, nothing…"

             Rogue sighed, "okay, so how are we going to figure out who's doing this, then?"

             "First thing is first…" Remy gave a soft yawn, "I'm gonna case the place and break in myself."


	3. Chapter 3: Casing The Place

Chapter 3: Casing The Place

             "Are you serious?" Rogue asked of Remy that next morning, she found him out on the precipice, sitting right on the edge, smoking a cigarette – since he was forbidden to smoke in the research centre.

             "About?" 

             "What you told me last night?" Rogue asked quietly, she stepped over and sat beside him carefully, looking down at the great height, knowing if either of them should slip, a quick fall could be their doom.

             "Hmmm?" Remy asked distractedly, he was writing in a notebook, Rogue noted that his writing was in French. 

             "About…y'know…breaking in," she kept her voice low.

             Remy continued writing, "hold on…"

             "What are you writing there?" Rogue leaned over, looking at the pages, she didn't understand much French, and for that matter, didn't understand what he was writing.

             "Notes," Remy closed the book, "and to answer your question, yes, I am serious," he shoved the notebook into the backpack he'd brought with him, "gonna take a few days to prepare, can't do a job like this all of a sudden.  Gotta be detailed as possible – a lot could go wrong," He looked thoughtful.

             "What good is breaking into the place?" Rogue asked, "what's it going to prove?"

             "It proves their intelligence," Remy smirked a little.

Rogue raised an eyebrow, "I don't understand."

"I need to know exactly what kind of intelligence I'm dealing with here…"

             "How exactly?"

             "By the difficulty of the job," Remy took a long drag of his cigarette, "the harder it is, and the more trouble I have with it, the more likely we're lookin' at someone who's either very clever or at least someone who has access to everything through their job," he explained.

             "So…how do you plan to break in?"

             Remy glanced around nervously, then pulled something out of his bag, it was a Superman comic.

             "You're going to get Clark Kent to do it for you?" Rogue mused.

             "No," Remy made a face at her, he opened the comic to the middle pages, stapled inside was a black and white photocopy of the layouts from the research centre.  "I stole this," he explained, "Moira doesn't know – and its best that way, gives me an idea how someone else might have found ways to do it…" he explained. 

             "Okay, so what am I looking at?" Rogue asked.

             "Way I see it, the only real way to get past at least three secured doors – without being seen – is through these air vents," Remy stated.

             "Are you kidding me?  Remy, those air vents can't be that big."

             "They're decent sized, I might fit, the passage ways probably about three by three, give or take.  I haven't exactly measured out the insides of the passages yet," he shrugged.

             "Is this it here?" Rogue pointed to the map, noting a U-shaped bend in the air vent passageways hidden beneath the floors and behind walls.

             "Yeah," Remy nodded.

             "Jesus Christ, Remy, how the fuck are you going to bend your body enough to get through this section," she gestured to the bend.

             "You'd be surprised at all the several different ways I can bend my body – and you'll be thoroughly – and I must say pleasantly – impressed when you see I can do it," he smirked.

             "I always figured when I got to see you bend your body in shapes like that, it wouldn't be in an air duct passage way," Rogue made a face.

             Remy laughed softly, "now now, don't distract me with thoughts like that," he nudged her playfully, "keep me focused," he smiled a little.  "Way I see it, I'm gonna have to do this really sneaky, to get from one side of the building to another through this air vent and gettin' out at the other side past all the alarmed doors."

"How are you gonna do it?" Rogue queried.

Remy slid his arm around Rogue's shoulders, bringing her so she was leaning a little more over the map, "Okay, I enter the air vent through the security room in the basement – right here," he explained, pointing at the map area, "the security guard – Michael – takes a fifteen minute break at 3am exactly to go make a pot of coffee, this is when I sneak in…" he gestured to the air vent entry point, he'd marked it off in red felt pen.  "Now, before I get into the entry way, I have to swap over three video tapes in the recorders, with three identical recordings from the night before," he explained, "this means that unknown to him, the Security guy gonna be watchin a video of nothing happening, while in reality, the camera would have been pickin' up me comin' out of the air vent at the other side.

Rogue nodded, understanding, "so what are these blue dots here," she gestured to the map.

"Those are the two remaining security doors," Remy stated, "the first once I can easily get past, it's a simple lock, I have my trusty lock picking kit with me at all times," he explained, "the last one, the one leading into the lab, is the one that requires the most work,"he sighed.

"What's tough about that one?"

"A security panel, needs an authorisation card and a code, but if I use my authorisation card to get past, it will log me down.  So whoever has been breaking in has found some way of getting past it.  My method will be destructive but hopefully easy to mend before I leave."

"How?" Rogue queried.

"I know a little bit about the wiring on electronic security to get by, cutting and twisting a few wires together here and there might be enough to get me past…"

"You're gonna go to all this trouble just to see what you're dealing with?"

"Yes," Remy responded, "It'll give me an idea of what needs to be secured and where the weak points are."

"You already know where the weak points are if you have all this planned," Rogue pointed out.

"Not quite," he assured, "Not until I've at either succeeded or failed in breaking in," he admitted.

Rogue looked at him, "are you breaking in from the outside?"

"Yes," Remy said, "that part is easy, I've done it before," he said.  "There's this drainpipe, can shimmy up to the roof up it," he shrugged, "outside perimeters of the Research centre are totally neglected by security.  I'll get up there no problem."

"What then?" Rogue asked.

Remy looked at her, his eyes burning deep into hers, "I pick a padlocked hatch on the roof, and bingo, I'm in," he stated.  

"But that doesn't get you to the basement," Rogue pointed out, she gestured to the map.  

Remy smirked, "But it does me near the staircase leading down three floors and into the basement," he explained, he gestured to the map, "this here is the staircase nearest the security room – the one the security guard conveniently uses to head up to the kitchen to make coffee…" he explained.  "Now here," Remy gestured to another staircase marked off on the map, "is where I will be coming down…then I'm into the security room."

"How long is this going to take you?" Rogue queried.

Remy paused for thought, "okay, lets see…I leave at about 2.50am and start for the roof, it won't take long to get up there, get down there and at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for the guard to leave the security room at 3am, to go up the other stairs," Remy said.  "By 3.10 I should hopefully have changed the tapes over, and have made my way into the passages.  That's where it gets complicated."

"How so?"

"It can take some time to get through passages like that, its about movin' in the right way.  But the guard gonna be sittin' watching videos of the night before on the monitor without even realising it, doesn't matter how long I take to get past the three doors through the passages – or how long I take to get the chemicals out of there – I'm gonna be using empty bottles of water instead of chemicals though," he pointed out.

"Alright…" Rogue nodded.

"Only leaves one problem," Remy made a face, "gettin' out again."

Rogue looked at him, "why?"

"The only way back out is the way I came…" he explained, "so before I leave the scene of the crime, I need to deliberately set one of the alarms off and make a break for it.  This mean that the security guard will go to investigate, and I can get out – however, I gotta be fast in getting all the way back down to the basement through the passage, which is going to be extremely difficult.  Once I'm out, switch the tapes back, put them on record, and rush for the stairs, and out.  And bingo, I'm done."

"And when is this all goin' on?"

Remy grinned, "Tonight, I guess."

Rogue looked at him, smirking a bit.

"What's so amusing?" he asked of her.

Rogue chewed her lip, "I don't know, just seein' you so passionate about something…it's kinda sexy."

Remy smirked, "Bein' bad usually is."


	4. Chapter 4: Never Mind

Chapter 4: Never Mind

             "Remy…you awake…?" Rogue whispered, it was 1.30am, and she'd entered Remy's room.  She herself had just woken up, her sleeping patterns slightly off by jet lag and exhaustion.  Her sleep had been plagued with thoughts of Jared.  She hadn't been able to take her mind off of it, and was fretting that she wouldn't sleep well until Remy knew.  

It was the reason she'd come to see Remy at this moment, to tell him, and hopefully have his forgiveness.

The room was completely dark, even the blinds had been closed tightly to prevent any outside light from seeping in.  

             "Oui," Remy's voice came from the darkness, "c'mon in," he murmured softly.

             Rogue stepped in, closing the door behind herself.

             "Couldn't sleep?" Remy asked, he let go of her, she heard him move away.

             "I slept earlier, but my sleeping pattern is so fucked up," she heard him shuffle around, she hard a soft thud as if something heavy had been put down, and then the sound of a match being struck.  A dim soft yellow light broke through the darkness as Remy lit a candle he'd placed down on the cabinet.  

             Rogue looked at him, "How about you?"

             "Had a few hours sleep, got up an hour ago," he walked over to the window, moving the slats of the blinds open just a tad, he glanced outside.  "Wanted to be wide awake for this.  I figure in another hour and twenty minutes I'm gonna be very alert."

             Rogue watched him, there was something tense about the way he moved.

Rogue sat down slowly, "I can't believe you're really going to do this."

             "It's not like I'm really going to steal," he leaned against the wall, he picked at one of his fingernails absently, his hands nervous.

             Rogue looked at him, he was tense, she could tell.  "Are you alright?" she asked.

             "I'm fine.  Just sometimes I get a little panicky with jobs like this, I'm not sure how I'm gonna get out before being caught.  I know there's no real danger, but still…" he took a deep breath. 

             Rogue smiled a little, she'd always thought of him as a confident thief, it was strange seeing him so nervous, and up tight about this.  Her smile then faded, with him so uptight and tense, it might not be the best time to tell him about Jared having told her he loved her just yet.  She needed to wait until he was calm.

             He walked over and sat beside her, "god I hate being like this," he sighed, "your heart thuds, feel sweaty…and I've done this kind of thing a million times…I should be fine…" he sighed.

             Rogue looked at him, his eyes caught the flickering of the candle light, twinkling like rubies against onyx.  "Relax, sugar," she murmured, she reached over and placed her covered hand upon his arm.  "If you're this tense during the job, you're gonna fail…" she stated.

             "I know…I know…" He sighed, he rubbed his temples to try and ease the tension he was feeling in his head.

             Rogue knelt up on the bed, "take your shirt off."

             "What?" he turned to her, looking at her as if she were absurd.

             "Don't ask questions," Rogue tugged on the back of his shirt, pulling it up, "just do it."  
             Remy responded, yanking his dark grey T-shirt off, he tossed it aside.

             Rogue climbed behind him, "Just tell me if I'm hurting you too much, okay?" she placed her hands at the nape of his neck and began to massage, her gloves protecting them both from the effects of her powers.  He leaned forward a little, she moved her hands, kneading his flesh from his neck to all areas of his back.

             Remy closed his eyes and let her, it was the most contact they'd really ever had for a long time, he let her touch – even with the leather confines of her gloves between them – and the soft candle light seduce him, and his tension began to diminish.

             "Feel any better?" she asked softly.

             "Tons," he admitted, "don't stop though," he sighed delightedly.

             "I'm gonna have to eventually, my hands are getting sore," Rogue responded, she continued for a few more moments, and then slowed to a stop.

             He leaned back against her, she wrapped her arms around, his back pressing against her chest, his washboard abdomen under her fingers.  They remained like that for a time, in the silence.  

             "R'member the night you tried to seduce me – on this very bed?" Remy asked.

Rogue felt a blush creep upon her cheeks, and was thankful his back was turned to her and he would never see.  "Vaguely," she lied.

             "You musta been pretty desperate for a way to get out of bein' caught goin' through my shit to have gone to the trouble of tryin' that on," he admitted.

             "I was in need of a quick solution – I took the easy way out.  Like you've never done something like that to get your ass out of trouble," Rogue commented.

             Remy gave a soft laugh, "I knew you wouldn't go through with it, y'know."

             "Really?" Rogue asked, "What made you so sure?"

             "Oh, c'mon…sixteen year old girl, never touched a guy before, comin' on with that sexy pose and all the rest?" He asked, "I knew you'd chicken out."

             "I didn't chicken out," Rogue responded, "You passed out."

             "You thought I passed out, I never did," he responded, "truth was, I didn't want you doin' that just to get out of a sticky situation.  Besides," he craned his neck around and looked at her, "woulda got you out of one sticky situation and right into another, probably quite literally I expect."

             Rogue blushed again.

             "I was momentarily tempted to leave you to your own devices and see what happened, just to see how far you were willin' to go to get your ass out of trouble," he admitted, "I knew what you'd been up to the minute I got into my room…I see good in the dark, and when I opened the door you had panic on your face."

             Rogue looked at him, "And you were gonna let me go ahead anyway even though you knew what I'd been doing?"

             Remy smirked, "Maybe," he shrugged, "Wasn't every day I had you on my bed wantin' me – or even pretendin' to."

             Rogue felt her cheeks flush even more, they felt as if they were burning, "But you chickened out."

             "I didn't chicken out, Chere," Remy craned his neck again and looked at her, "It just didn't feel right," he shrugged once again, and looked away again, "truth is…when I'm with you…sex is never an issue…" he sounded a little baffled about this himself, "I don't know how to say this without you taking it the wrong way, but you don't turn me on in the way that most other women used to."  
             Rogue gaped and shoved him a little off of her, "what?!"

             "See, I knew you'd take it the wrong way…" he sighed, he leaned up, turning towards her, "What I mean is…when I'm with you, the emotional part of our relationship seems to…" he made a face, searching for the word, "compensate for the lack of sexual…"

             Rogue wasn't sure how to take that, "You don't find me sexy?"

             Remy laughed, "course I do…sometimes you set my blood racin'."

             "Like?"

             "That night you and Kitty went to Asylum together and I was there…you had one of your cute little gothic outfits on…my god, you don't know what that did to me."

             "Why have you never told me about this before…?" Rogue smiled a little, slightly flattered.

             "Because…I don't know, you're younger than me, and…it never seemed proper."

             "You're talking about proper – you sent me a nude photo of yourself for gods sake.  How 'proper' is that?"

             "That wasn't me," Remy burst out laughing, "one of the guys here is really good with photo manipulation, he took a photo of me and pasted my head onto some gay porn models body!"

             Rogue put her hands to her face as an onslaught of laughter burst from her mouth.

             Remy tried to shush her, "ssh, chere, you gonna wake everyone up."

             "I'm sorry," Rogue laughed, "But Kitty has a print out of that and drools over it constantly," she stifled more laughter, "I can't wait to tell her that the guy in that picture is gay."

             Remy laughed, "did you really think I'd pose nude?"

             Rogue pursed her lips for a moment, trying to stop laughing, then she blurted out "Yes!"

             "What made you think that?" he asked.

             "Well…you did pin me to a wall with your thing floppin' around about two inches from my leg…" Rogue trailed off.

             "You caught me off guard, I didn't have time to pull on my boxer shorts," he responded, "besides," he added. "I thought you would have actually caught on that the picture wasn't me…"

             "I never looked at your…uhm…thing.  How could I really compare differences?"

Remy smirked, "Is that what you're gonna call it?  My 'thing'?" He seemed so amused, "ah, but anyway, no, I wasn't talking about my 'thing'.  Although I have to say I could put that porn model to shame.  No, the picture, you know I have a scar on my chest, in the picture, the body doesn't have a scar, I thought you would have picked up on that right way," he explained.

Rogue blushed, "ohhh," Rogue silently reminded herself in her thoughts to tear up her own print out of the picture when she got back to the mansion.

Remy looked away, "How much do you…I dunno, think about sex?" he asked with a shrug, he pretended to be more interested in his fingernails than looking at her.

Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek, "before…y'know…the rape…" she said softly, "I used to think about it like all the time…although it used to scare me…now I've had the worst of it, it…doesn't scare me so much…it probably should…" she admitted.

Remy looked back to her, his eyes softening, "you still think about it then?"

She shrugged, "isn't a crime, is it?" she felt slightly embarrassed admitting it.  "I just keep…wondering…about when…me…and you—" she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, Remy interrupted.

"We'll get there eventually, Chere," Remy looked at her, "just gotta be patient is all…for the right time…" he reached over, touching her covered arm, "and there will be a right time."

"But aren't you like…I don't know…sexually frustrated, I mean it's been like…eight… months since you had sex…" Rogue felt a bitter anger rile her up for a moment, thinking of Remy being intimate with Bella Donna while she sat in a damp cellar room locked away.  It still haunted her.

"I'll wait eight years if I have to."

Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek again, looking down to the bed covers absently, "don't let it be that long."

He looked at her worriedly, he was very good at reading situations like this, but with Rogue, it was so hard to read her.  He wasn't sure what she was trying to say exactly.  "What…are you….sayin'?" he asked.

Rogue's cheeks were positively burning now, "what'd you think I'm sayin'?" she asked shyly.

"Don't play the 'what do you think I mean' game, Chere…" Remy pleaded, "If you have something to say, then say it?"

Rogue sighed, "never mind…" she mumbled, and got up, she was out of the room before Remy had a chance to stop her.  He sighed, and his heart sank slightly in his chest, and he wondered just how close he might have been to becoming intimate with the girl he loved.


	5. Chapter 5: The Break In

Chapter 5: The Break In

             Remy LeBeau started up the drainpipe, trying to focus on the situation at hand, he had a limited amount of time to get inside the building from the roof, and down the staircase before the Security Guard, Michael, would go for his break to make coffee.  Even as he got to the roof and yanked his lock picking kit out of his pocket, he felt apprehensive.  Timing was essential, and the usually confident Remy LeBeau was a nervous wreck.  It had been a while since he'd had to use these kinds of skills and planning, and he was afraid he might have become rusty in the absence of Thievery in his life.  

             He carefully picked the lock, and after getting the roof hatch open and slipping in, he checked his Indiglow watch for the time, he was right on schedule.

             Stop worryin' about it, Remy, he told himself sternly.  You could do this blindfolded, he added smirking a little, he descended down the stairs quietly, there were small overhead lights to cast just a tiny amount of light, he avoided stepping into them, and moved in shadow slowly, once he'd reached the bottom of the staircase, he checked his watch again, two minutes until the Security Guard was due to leave for his break.

             He tried to focus, but his mind kept drifting to Rogue, there was something going on that he just couldn't place.  Even he could see she wasn't acting like herself, he could see there were things on her mind, and he wasn't sure what they could be.

             Ever since he'd left, things had been different, and although it was clear there was still an attraction, it certainly felt as if it had died considerably.  He didn't see the same love in her eyes he'd always seen before.  It concerned him.

             Shit, he thought, realised his thoughts had carried him two minutes further than he it had meant to, he heard the door of the opposite stairway creak and realised the Security Guard was on his way.  Remy opened the door of the stairway corridor he was in, and he glanced back and fourth, no one around.  A security camera in the corner caught his eye.  It moved slowly, back and fourth.

             This was something he hadn't accounted for.  

             This is gonna cut my time in half, he thought desperately.  He waited until the security camera had swivelled to the door of the Security room, he pressed his back against the wall, and he began to walk along it, he kept his eyes on the camera, it was swivelling towards him, he ducked and rushed over to the other side of the wall where the camera wasn't facing, he began to walk along the wall again, he kept his eyes on the camera, it swivelled again, he ducked, dashing to the other side, and repeated the process, hoping to god he hadn't been picked up.  

             He made it into the security room, he glanced at his watch quickly, he had eight minutes to get the videos switched and get into the passage.

             He headed over to the cabinet where he new the recorded videos from the security monitors were, he reached for the handle and realised that the doors were locked.

             "FUCK!" he hissed loudly, "what is wrong with me?" he whispered, "I should have expected this," he took his lock picking kit out, selected a tool and began to pick the lock hastily, he could feel nervous sweat pouring down his face, "c'mon, c'mon," he whispered.

             A soft click and the cabinet unlocked, he sighed in relief.  He chose three, marked off for which camera, he headed over to the control panel for the centre's security, and began to hurriedly change the tapes over.   He glanced to the clock on the wall, he had two minutes to get into the vents.  

             His heart began thudding, he dropped to his knees, sliding under the desk, the large air vent grate on the wall directly under the desk, he began to unwind the screws off of the grate quickly with one of his lock picking tools, luckily the small screws didn't go too deep into their sockets.  He yanked the grate off, pushed it to an area of the wall it wouldn't be seen – knowing that while the vent opening was under the desk, it was unlikely to be noticed as lying open.  He glanced at his watch, thirty seconds left.  He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and held it between his teeth, then climbed in, a tight fit, he began to shuffle along the passage, he heard the footsteps of the security guard entering back into the security room.  Remy felt a flow of relief he'd made it through without being caught.

             The metal sides of the passage were cold through the thin material of his black clothes, he shuffled silently along, his heart still thudding.  It became harder to manoeuvre, the passage was starting to move upwards, almost like a slide.  He forced himself up using the rubber soles of his sneakers to push himself up, the leather of his gloves barely able to hold onto the slippery metal.   Upwards and upwards he began to go, finally beginning to see some light coming through from another grating nearby.

             Rogue stepped into the living room quietly, she was dressed in her pyjamas.  She'd tried sleeping again, but couldn't.  So much was on her mind, and only one thing would set her mind at rest, and that was speaking to Kitty Pryde.  

             There was no one in the living room, but the lights were still on, Rogue reached for the phone and began to dial the long number to reach through to the Mansion in Bayville.  She sat down on the edge of the couch, and waited silently, hoping to god Kitty would pick up.

             The ringing continued for moments, while Rogue waited, she found herself wondering how far Remy had made it through the heist.  She expected he'd probably already made it to the Lab already.

             "Hello?"

             Rogue felt her heart jump when the voice at the other end of the phone caught her by surprise, it wasn't Kitty's voice.

             "Hey, is Kitty there?" Rogue asked, she absently ran her fingers through her hair.

             "I know that voice," Rogue recognised the voice on the other end also, it was Jared, "No, Kitty's not here, Rogue," Jared said, "But I am."

             "I want to talk to Kitty, where is she?"

             "She and Kurt went to a late movie," Jared responded.

             "Look, when she gets back will you tell her to call me at the research centre?  I'll be waiting right at the phone…" Rogue stated.

             "So did you tell Remy?" Jared sounded rather smug.

             Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek, "did I tell Remy about what?"

             "Us."

             "Us?" Rogue asked, "I already told you—" she was about to remind him that there was no 'us', but she didn't get a chance, he interrupted. 

             "Oh come on, Rogue, if there wasn't, you would have told him by now already.  But you're stalling."

             "He's going through a lot, I can't just tell him…" Rogue responded.  

             "If you don't, I will…" Jared responded, there was a click, and Rogue realised Jared had hung up on her.

             She frowned, "damn," she whispered.

             Remy leaned close to the grating that led directly in the living room, he'd only heard Rogue's half of the conversation, but it was enough to tell him that there was definitely something Rogue was keeping from him.  He sighed, deciding not to let it distract him, he began his way down the passage again.  He had it memorised.  There was a fork in the passages coming up, he took the left passage, ending up going down a slope, sliding downwards, coming to a u shaped bend in the passage.  This was the one Rogue had doubted he'd get through.  Still clenching the flashlight between his teeth, he hauled his upper body through the u in the passage, pulling himself around, finding himself momentarily stuck.  He reminded himself when he bragged to Rogue about having succeeded getting through the U bend, he'd leave out getting stuck.  He finally got himself free by shifting his weight and pushing himself with his legs.  Finally, one last long dark passage to drag himself through, and he was at the end – he'd passed all the main security doors except from two.

             Picking the lock on the first was easy, and he was through it in minutes, the second door was a less conventional lock.  He told himself to focus, to ignore what he'd overheard of Rogue's conversation.  He stepped over to the electronic security panel on the wall near the door, using one of his tools, he pried it open, and pulled out a tiny pair of clippers and began to clip and twist wires together, trying to remember everything his father had ever taught him about electronic security wiring.  After fifteen minutes of messing with the wires – and without having been caught, he succeeded in getting through.  The door swung open.

             Remy peered in through the darkness.  He'd been in the lab so many times he could remember where all the motion detectors were located, but just to be sure he brought out a tiny bottle of aerosol and sprayed it towards the floor, the beams showing up bright vivid red against the spray.  "Bingo," he mumbled, he began to move around and over the beams, spraying occasionally just to keep them in sight.  He'd made it to where earlier that day, he'd left several glass bottles of water on a counter, he pulled the thin nylon fold away bag he'd brought out of his pocket, and he unfolded it, putting the bottles inside of it.  He made his way to leave, glancing around the place.  Everything was in order, everything was fine.

             Now getting back was his only problem.

             He stepped out of the Lab, and closed the doors silently, rewired the doors back, checked them to make sure they were locked, then locked the other door again with his lock picking tools. 

             Now the challenging part was to begin.  On the wall a small box, 'break glass in case of emergency'.  He slammed his gloved hand against it, and alarms began to sound.  He then made a break for it.  He made his way back up into the vent, holding the grate cover, he pulled it on and instead of screwing it on, stuck it in place with a tiny hook, he promised himself he'd come fix it tomorrow.  He began to pull himself quickly through the passages, noting which way he was meant to be going.  

             He made it back to the security room, no one was in there, his distraction had worked.  He rushed to the video players, pulled out the tapes and swapped them with the original ones that had been in there, he pushed the record buttons, and put the old tapes back in the cabinet.  He made it out of there, into the stairwell, running.  He climbed the stairs to the top floor, pulling himself up into the hatch, and he locked it, he slid down the drainpipe, which was near the open window of his room.  He climbed into his room, and changed clothes quickly, he noticed the alarms had stopped now.  

             He'd succeeded, he looked at the bag of water bottles, impressed with his own success.  Now it was time to tell Rogue he'd succeeded.


	6. Chapter 6: The Ring

Chapter 6: The Ring

             Remy stepped into the living room, "I did it, Chere," he said with a smirk, "I actually did it."

             Rogue had been sitting on the couch, next to the phone for some time, waiting on a phone call that she wasn't even sure would come.   The television was on, its strange eerie light flickering across the room, almost illuminating Rogue in a strange blue tint.

To admit, Rogue was extremely surprised Remy had thought to come find her in the living room.  She stood quickly, "you did it?  And didn't get caught?"

             "Almost did.  Were a few things I didn't expect," he admitted, "I guess I underestimated the job…and was a bit over confident in the beginning, but I did it in the end," he said.

             Rogue smirked, "so did you learn anything?"

             "I think I did," he said, "whoever is doing this, is even smarter than I am," he sighed, "What are you doin' in here anyway?" he asked. 

             "Nothing, I was trying to call Kitty, but she's not home yet…"

             Remy looked at her, "you look guilty," he said.

             Rogue felt like a deer in the headlights, "Huh?"

             "You look guilty, have you done something bad?" He asked, he wanted to see if he could get her to admit something was going on, that she was keeping secrets from him.

             "No…I, er…was just feeling guilty about the way I walked out of your room earlier.  I was being a bitch, I'm sorry," she explained quickly.

             "It's fine," he shrugged, he walked over to the couch and sat down.

             "So…you've cased the place, you've broken in – and succeeded.  So what do we now then?" she asked.

             "Not too much yet.  This is one way of breaking into the centre.  There has to be others.  As far as I know, I didn't see any signs of previous break ins through the locks or the panel near the lab door, I'd been the first one to mess with them, which means whoever is doing this knows how to get past it without leaving traces on them, or they know another way – in other words, they're even better than I am at this."

             "Is that even possible?"

             "I'm one of the best Thieves in New Orleans, but doesn't mean to say there aren't Thieves better than me in the rest of the world," he pointed out softly, kind of downheartedly.  "In fact the fact there were things I missed when casing the place the other day just proves I'm kind of losing my touch, maybe I'm not such a great Thief anymore."

             "Don't be stupid," Rogue looked at him, "you're a great Thief, one of the best, always will be."

             "Whatever," he sighed.

             Rogue sat beside him, "So…what now?"

             "I look for other ways to break in," he explained, "there must be other ways, this can't just be the only way," he admitted, "I'm gonna start planning again tonight."

             Rogue looked at him, "Remy, let it rest a few days, you're obviously exhausted, chill out for a while first, then you can worry about other ways later…" she put her hand on his arm.

             Remy looked at her, she was clad in dark grey plaid pyjamas, and wearing thin black cotton gloves, her hair was slightly mussed, she looked as if she'd been tossing and turning on a restless night, and he had the feeling it was something to do with the secret she'd been keeping from him, although what that secret was, he was yet to discover.

             He wanted to ask her right then what was going on, but he held back, she had been stressed enough – they both had – and a fight was the last thing either of them needed.  And it would undoubtedly turn into exactly that, it always did.

             "I was worried about you," Rogue murmured, "I didn't think you'd make it through."

             "I told you, I can bend my body in any way," he shrugged, "didn't even get stuck once," he lied.

             Rogue smirked a little, "what other ways can you bend your body?"

             "You'd be surprised," he shrugged. 

             "Can you get your own head up your ass?" Rogue smirked.

             "If that's what turns you on," he joked.

             Rogue giggled a little, amused by the comment.

Remy looked at her, drinking in her presence as he always did, she was so beautiful in the low lighting of the living room, and in the bluish flickering light from the television, he was entranced by her unearthly attraction.  And despite he felt suspicious of her, right then he would have given his life just for one kiss – if she'd allow it. 

             "You're a sight for sore eyes," he murmured.

             "Flatterer," Rogue blushed, looking away, pleased with his comment, she pretended to be more interested in what was on the television than him.

             Remy reached over, placing his leather-gloved hand upon her cheek, turning her face back towards him, he brushed his thumb against her pale flesh, and she closed her eyes, shuddering a little at the touch of the cold leather.   "I knew…what it was you were tryin' to say earlier," he admitted, "I just didn't think it was the right time to be talkin' about it."

             Rogue sighed, pulling away, "Why?  Why  make me wait but all the other girls could have you in minutes?"

             "You know why," Remy answered, "Chere, give me time, alright?  This is one relationship I'm not in a hurry to mess up," he stated.  "And sex can mess things up…extremely."

             Rogue looked away guilty, knowing sex wasn't the only thing that could mess up the relationship.  Lies could, and she had some of her own.  She felt like a hypocrite, having picked on him for having his own lies and secrets she'd found out about herself, yet, she had the nerve to keep her own when she'd made him promise to tell her any of his secrets.  It felt bad.

             "What's on your mind?" he asked softly.  He was hoping that she'd just tell him right then, he was hoping she'd take the hint.

             "Nothing…" Rogue chewed her lip, "will you just hold me?" she asked.

             "If that's what you want," he wrapped his arms around her, and held her to him, her head against his chest so she could hear the beating of his heart – a heart he'd swear beat only for her and no one else.  "Chere," he murmured softly.

             "Yeah?" she asked after a time, her arm was draped over his stomach, she was beginning to feel comfortable, and sleepy right there and then.

             "We have no secrets from each other, right?" He asked, hinting again.

             Rogue fell silent for a moment, thinking, she knew she should tell him right then, it was the opportune time to get anything she needed to off of her chest, but she couldn't.  She couldn't bare the thought of starting another fight.  Another fight might just ruin things between them so much that there would never be chance of reconciliation again.  She wasn't sure if she was willing to risk their relationship for the morals of being honest.

             Remy felt the all too familiar feeling of the sinking of his heart, she was lying – lying to him.  He'd thought she'd always be honest with him.  Why did she have to lie to him now?  What was she hiding from him.  He let his fingers dance up her spine, "If…you ever do have any secrets…even shameful ones…y'know you can tell me," he murmured.

             "I don't have any secrets, Remy…" Rogue raised her head and looked at him, "my life is an open book, you've read it cover to cover so many times, you know everything there is to know, already."

             Remy nodded a little, he pulled her closer, "because, y'know…me and you can't even think about bein' together if we can't trust each other, right?" he asked.

             Rogue nodded too, "And I trust you completely now…" she admitted.

             "I trust you," Remy said, although quite frankly, now he didn't, now that he'd overheard that conversation.

             She lay her head back on his chest, closing her eyes, "this is how it's meant to be, y'know, why has it taken so long just to get here and sit here like this together, without nothing holding us apart?" she asked wearily.

             "You sure nothing is holding us apart?" he asked.

             Rogue raised her head, "what do you mean?" she asked, and was about to ask if he knew something he shouldn't, but just then the security guy came in through the door, he looked slightly panicked, his breath heavy as if he'd been running.

             "Have you guys heard anything or seen anything unusual?" Michael, the security guard demanded hastily.

             "Nothin', mon ami," Remy responded, almost too quickly.  "Why?"

             "There's been a break in…"

             Remy raised his head, "are you sure?"

             "Seven thousand dollars worth of chemicals are missing," Michael stated, "you're the only ones in the centre who seem to be awake apart from myself."

             Rogue spun around and looked worriedly at Remy, she knew he couldn't have taken those chemicals, but again, suspicions because of his ability to steal and the fact he'd managed to break in to the lab without being caught, did again leave her concerned.

             "Are Moira and Sean back yet?" Rogue asked.

             "Not until tomorrow," Michael stated.

             Remy stood up, "But…how?" he asked.  "How could someone have broken in?"

             "How the hell should I know?  There are no signs of a break in but several things are missing from the lab – I checked.  Someone's been in there alright, so many chemicals are missing…and I found this…"

             Michael held up something in the air, Remy walked over and took it from him with his gloved hand, looking at it.  It was a long silver chain, rather delicate, and the links had snapped so that it was no longer wearable.  On the chain, dangled a silver ring, almost plain except for an engraved thorny heart, with a ruby in its centre.  

             "What is it?" Rogue asked, she stood up, and looked at the ring, in confusion.

             Remy's face had gone pale.  Even without him having said anything, she could see it in his eyes. 

             He'd seen the necklace before.


End file.
